19. Q. What class of diseases kill about one-half of all who die in
England, and are diseases most common in our American towns and homes?
A. Filth diseases.
20. Q. For what purpose is this tract written? A. To show why and how
to make continual warfare against uncleanliness for the protection of
the health and comfort of the people.
21. Q. How may the water of a well or spring be poisoned so that the
use of it will destroy life? A. By permitting the drainage into it
through the soil of defiling matter.
22. Q. In what substances will some kinds of contagion long remain? A.
Porous substances, like the clothing or bedding used by the sick, or
in the carpets and cloths, and even in the floors and wall-paper, or
unwashed walls of the sick-room.
23. Q. Of what are the contagious disorders of the skin, the eyes and
mouth the results? A. Of neglect of cleanliness.
24. Q. What is doubtful in regard to persons who become filthy in their
habits, and neglect to provide for the purification of their bodies,
clothing and premises? A. It is doubtful if they will ever be found
pure and sweet in their thoughts, language and influence.
25. Q. Mention some of the things that in their respective ways and
times require the faithful application of sanitary rules. A. The air,
the water, the streets and grounds, the clothing and dwellings of
individuals, and waste and decaying matters.
26. Q. What should be prevented from defiling the air in any region
where it is to be breathed? A. Foul vapors and gases, and smoke and
sickening odors.
27. Q. What is said as to the water used for drinking and in
households? A. The wells, springs, cisterns, and reservoirs of water
used for drinking and in households must always be protected against
defilement.
28. Q. Name some articles of food that quickly become unwholesome if
in the presence of decaying matter and putrid gases. A. Meats, and
especially fish, milk and butter.
29. Q. When are the pathways and grounds about dwellings, and all
roadways, best kept clean and free from nuisance? A. When so graded and
sloped as to give easy surface drainage for the water.
30. Q. How are the freshness and healthfulness of paths and grounds
improved? A. By an occasional layer of fine gravel; but never by
sawdust, chips, or planks.
31. Q. What is the best of sanitary rules for all undergarments? A. The
modern practice of boiling as well as washing.
32. Q. What are some of the essential means of cleanliness of
habitations? A. Through-and-through ventilation, sunlight, the hot
scrubbing of wood floors, and the wiping and dusting of walls.
33. Q. What is said of the putrescence of refuse materials used for
food? A. It is not only excessively offensive, but may be the cause of
sudden and even fatal sickness.
34. Q. How has many a valuable life been lost and many a family
prostrated by sudden sickness? A. By the putrid emanations of a few
bushels of rotting potatoes or cabbages, or by putrid animal matters
and melons, in cellars or store-rooms.
35. Q. What should be done in regard to sewerage matter if it is not
completely washed away by flowing water? A. It should be led, in tubes,
to porous grounds at least two hundred yards away from the house.
36. Q. What are essential for every person and every dwelling in order
to secure purity and health? A. Pure water and fresh air, and means for
applying these elements for cleansing.
37. Q. What allowance of water is needed by every individual who is
to be kept perfectly clean in person, clothing and premises? A. From
twenty to thirty gallons daily.
38. Q. How much fresh air should every person have supplied every
minute? A. From twenty-five to one hundred cubic feet.
39. Q. What is necessary as well as ventilation for preserving the
cleanliness and purity of a dwelling or any apartment? A. Sunlight.
40. Q. What habit and duty should be established by all? A. The habit
and duty of revolting against foul or stagnant air.
41. Q. What study should be established by all? A. The study of
available means for supplying fresh air.
42. Q. For what are disinfectants not a substitute? A. They are not a
substitute for cleanliness, and the use of water and fresh air, which
are the great purifiers.
43. Q. What is the most important use of disinfectants? A. It is that
which destroys the infections and invisible virus of the contagious or
infectious diseases.
44. Q. What are the principal disinfecting agents employed? A. Heat and
chemical substances.
45. Q. What is it found that boiling heat will destroy? A. Infectious
or contagious virus in clothing and infected apartments.
46. Q. What are some of the chemical substances used as disinfectants?
A. Sulphate of zinc, carbonate of soda, chloride of lime, and carbolic
acid.
47. Q. How is the special drying of a damp apartment best secured?
A. By the continual and strong currents of air, blowing through and
through.
48. Q. What proportion of the volume is air contained in the grounds
upon which we walk, or that are under and about our houses? A. It is
found to be nearly one-fifth of the entire volume or quantity of every
solid foot or yard of earth.
49. Q. How is this air clean and fresh, or impure and sickening? A.
According to the condition of the grounds and the places out of which
it comes.
50. Q. Like habits of personal virtue and the right use of our time
and thoughts, what will these habits of cleanliness and the sanitary
regulation of houses become? A. Sources of personal and domestic
happiness and health.